In recent years, for efficient use of previous information, a search system is widely implemented which searches a database including various data systematically managed and accumulated, and obtains and presents a search result corresponding to a search query (conditions) made up of a keyword and the like.
In a medical field, too, in a diagnosis by a doctor, previous medical information such as a large number of imaging tests, specimen tests, interpretation reports, and the like serves as important reference information, and therefore a technique has been developed in which the medical information is, in the form of electronic data, managed and accumulated in a database system.
On the other hand, the conventional medical database cannot be practically used for accumulating and searching medical images because the medical image has a very large image size. Therefore, if it is necessary to refer to an image together with text data, a designated film is extracted from a film holder to refer to an analog image. Thus, although text information such as medical charts, interpretation reports, and test results can be stored in an electronic form and electronically displayed on a display screen of a CRT or the like, it is impossible that a high-resolution medical image is stored and displayed in an electronic form together with the text information.
To address such a problem, a medical information system has been provided in which information necessary for diagnoses such as medical charts, medical images, interpretation reports, and test results is stored in an electronic form and necessary information can be displayed on a screen by a simple operation, and additionally, test information or the like can be searched and a predetermined image and a test list can be automatically displayed (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-181527).